The Oxford encyclopedia of women in world history /

This encyclopedia is the fruit of the collaborative work of a dozen editors--all women's history scholars led by Smith (Rutgers)--and 900 additional contributors from 50 countries. In four volumes it presents a global picture of the historical experience and achievements of women, offering 1.6 million words, 1,250 alphabetically arranged entries, and 450 illustrations. Though its creators are scholars, the entries are readable, varying in length from a few paragraphs to a few pages. While many entries are biographical or geographical, others deal with organizations/movements or topics such as divorce or education, with chronological and comparative cultural treatments. Researchers will appreciate the bibliographies of primary sources and references to related articles at the end of the entries. A lengthy chronology that begins the first volume, along with the topical outline, roster, and extensive index in volume 4, add to the value of the work. This encyclopedia goes beyond purely biographical treatments such as Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women through the Ages, ed. by A. Commire, with D. Klezmer (CH, Sep'07, 45-0033). It would be a very useful addition to academic libraries' reference collections. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. T. McDevitt Indiana University of Pennsylvania

*Starred Review* Aiming to survey women's history in all parts of the world and at all times in the past,  The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History contains nearly 1,250 entries and subentries covering not only individual women but a very wide range of other topics, from Brazil to Buddhism, Feminism to Footbinding, and Welfare state to Witchcraft. Biographical coverage is representative rather than exhaustive. The biographical entries are among the shortest generally less than a page in length and, with a few exceptions, cover women who are deceased. Among the longest entries are Education (17 pages), Family (15 pages), and Slavery (18 pages). There are also lengthy entries for some nations and geographic regions, most notably China (23 pages) and the U.S. (22 pages). The entry Africa is 12 pages and is supplemented by separate, multipage entries for Central Africa, East Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa as well as for some individual African countries. Under polygamy in the index, readers will find references to the practice in ancient China and Egypt, in Iraq, in Russia, and among the Aztecs, to name just a few. This global perspective, bolstered by the fact that the 900 or so contributors represent some fifty countries around the world, is one of the set's most important contributions. All entries and subentries have bibliographies, and many have see also references. Some 450 black-and-white illustrations accompany the text. An alphabetical list of articles and an extensive chronology can be found in volume 1, and volume 4 contains a Topical Outline of Entries, a  Directory of Contributors, and a very detailed 73-page index. There is no shortage of reference works on women's history. A number of them, such as A History of Women in the United States: State-by-State Reference (Grolier, 2003) and Women and War: A Historical Encyclopedia from Antiquity to the Present (ABC-CLIO, 2006), are more narrowly focused. The 17-volume Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia (Gale, 2002) covers nearly 10,000 women but has no topical entries. By merging women's and world history, the impeccably produced Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History earns a place on the reference shelves of academic and large public libraries.--Quinn, Mary Ellen Copyright 2008 Booklist

Edited by Smith (history, Rutgers, Univ.; The Gender of History: Men, Women, and Historical Practice), these four volumes combine scholarship from the relatively new fields of world history and women's history to produce a thoughtful, thorough, and accessible survey of women in world history to which some 900 researchers from 50-plus countries have contributed. The nearly 1250 entries range in size from single-page biographies to in-depth analyses with multiple subsections, and each conclude with a selected bibliography. The entries follow one of three approaches to world history: geographic, focusing on governments from prehistory to the present; comparative, emphasizing universal experiences such as disability and religion; and connective, exploring the interactions among peoples through experiences such as migration and globalization. A topical index clarifies and concretizes these approaches by dividing the entries into nine conceptual categories, e.g., "Geography and Ethnicity" and "Comparative Culture and Society." Additionally, there are 650 line illustrations, a detailed chronology of women's history, and a comprehensive index. The work's breath and depth make it a perfect candidate for keyword searching and an excellent addition to Oxford's Digital Reference Shelf online platform. If the online version is purchased as part of the Premium Collection, its biographical content can be supplemented by cross-searching all other titles in that collection. BOTTOM LINE Smith does an admirable job of summarizing and synthesizing a vast academic literature in clear, jargon-free language that will engage scholars and general readers alike. Because the biographical entries are intentionally brief and selective, libraries will want to complement the print version with a similarly strong biographical reference work, such as the 17-volume Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia (Yorkin, 2002). Highly recommended for academic and public libraries. [e-ISBN 978-0-1953-3786-0; available electronically through Oxford Digital Reference Shelf. For more information on this title and all its purchasing options, visit www.oxford-womenworldhistory.com.]--Nadine Cohen, Univ. of Georgia Lib., Athens (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.